Bas Kosters
“My house is on juicy street”
Welcome to Bas, his extravagantly soft and sensually weird home, let him touch you with his warm walls. The sex house of visual artist and designer Bas Kosters emphasizes on the tactility of textiles and features the past and future of Bas Kosters textile erotic prints, soft sculptures and erotic narratives. It seems that our sexuality is best kept behind closed doors because the world is experiencing a new wave of prudishness. Our sexuality is shamed and has no place in our public lives, yet self-expression and intimacy are just so important as is enjoyment.
“My house is on juicy street” in a new installation of new and existing work amongst which “Limpy” sex dolls, “Naked gnome party”, “Guidelines for responsible gay living” tapestries, and “Sex sells” Art covers for generic objects. series of three, shopping kart, motorcycle, rubbish container 2022.
somatic exercise
Breathing – Body breath.
Stand or sit down and take some time to breathe and tune into how you are feeling in your body. You can start by just noticing your breath and then slowly bringing your breath into your chest and noticing any differences that come up.
Then take your breath down into the pit of your belly, and put your hand on your belly as you continue to breathe. Feel with your hand how your belly is expanding and contracting. Then move your breath into your pelvis, feel, visualise or sense where your breath is and try to connect to your pelvic area.
Keep your knees bent and feel the soles of your feet connecting to the floor. You can keep your breath here or increase the sensuality by breathing into your cock or pussy or however you call your genitals. This is a body breath that keeps us grounded. It can also be used to build sexual evergy.
Homework – Freedom of sexual expression.
There is a conflict between what sex, sexuality and beauty should be and what we want and need in current society and culture. Media and marketing strategies use sex to sell everything from perfume, jeans, cars or cheeseburgers. Since the 1800s, sex and sexual imagery have been used to sell products. These images, movies and advertisements heavily influence our ideas of sex, sexuality and beauty. Most portray a particular type of unattainable aesthetic based on society’s vision of what beauty is.
The ideas and education about sex are from free porn platforms that represent an unachievable norm and standard. The hyper sexualisation of huge dicks, black bodies, poor treatment of women, big tits and asses etc. Usually from a narrow, white cis-male gaze. Inform expectations of what sex should be and create shame, unworthiness and disappointment.
So, society sells sex and what sex, sexuality and beauty should be according to a particular set of rules. And at the same time, censors and bans full self-expression, sexuality outside what is the “norm”, and the freedom to be sexual. How confusing. How do we then reparent ourselves to understand more of what we want and need?
Take some time alone. It might be helpful to use a journal for the following questions. You can use the above breathing technique to slow down and connect to your body. Remember no feelings are good or bad. Take your time to explore and notice what comes up for you.
- What do sex, sexuality and beauty mean to you?
- What are the conditions and beliefs you have around sex, sexuality and beauty?
- What parts of those conditions and beliefs don’t serve you anymore and hinder self-expression?
- How safe do you feel in your own body?
- How can you give yourself more love and compassion?
- How can you lead with your sexuality and feel more empowered out in the world?